Chief Family Officer

The Game of Ten Things

It’s the game of Ten Things Gone. I picked it up from Havi’s blog post, who got inspiration from Barbara’s book. Here are the two rules:

Get rid of ten things. Whenever you happen to remember.

Sounds pretty easy, right? Except, as it turns out, it’s not that easy. And, of course, letting go of simple things is a reflection of how hard or easy it is for you to let go of more difficult things. I also discovered that our house is quite functional and there are few things that do not belong.

And, something that I suspected but what this game showed me really clearly: I am practically incapable of choosing small steps. Most of stuff on my list came in packages or multiples, and I kept raising the bar higher and higher until I almost made it impossible for me to complete the game. How curious. I will ponder it some more.

Three darling candles that were a gift from a couple of years ago. I let them burn while I searched the house for other ideas of things to let go of.

Six packages of various pills and powders that were past the due date. One of them especially hilarious. Also, I did not find a place in Houston that takes meds of disposal, and learned that meds need to be mixed with cat food or coffee grinds and removed from boxes. I ended up mixing everything together with salt and sealing it in a plastic bag. This made me think about how much I really need to stock up on various pills and chemical remedies.

Eleven empty cardboard boxes. Apparently, I like to order stuff online and then hold on to my cardboard boxes. Not anymore! Gone to recycling!

Two burnt-out energy bulbs. Weird, I know – I thought those were not supposed to burn out? On their way to recycling. Bye-bye, energy bulbs!

Two shirts: into a donation clothes pile.

The donation clothes pile: driven to the Goodwill location and dropped through a hole in the wall. There were a couple of neat things there, and I trust they will recycle what they don’t like or need.

A Chinese kite that was missing pieces: after some family negotiating, also gone. Bye, kite! We will think of you whenever we see kites flying in the sky.

A book on yoga that used to send shivers down my spine. I made a decision and recycled it, rather than resold it. I hope a kinder book would be printed on the recycled paper which would not so horribly misrepresent what yoga is actually about.

Pages from a notebook that where from the past, not the present or the future. It was fun to re-read them and realize that yes, I did actually travel quite a bit this past year (evidenced by all the trip-planning notes). And re-read the notes from job interviews (I am glad I stayed put). And say goodbye to all that.

An microwave from our previous apartment. Almost gone, but not physically yet. I have a plan, however, and it will move to a new home in the first week of January once we are back in Houston.

Did you notice how the above is at least 29 things, rather than ten? Totally unnecessary for the game, yes pretty characteristic for me.

Maybe I was trying to compensate for the 77 Lentils Game. Maybe I really want to let go of more things and have more space in my home. Or maybe I just wanted to keep playing.

Wanna play with me? Does not have to be ten. One will do for starters. I bet you have some pills that are past their expiration date, or some old packages or boxes that are never going to be used again 🙂

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2 thoughts on “The Game of Ten Things”

I admire how you not only got rid of things, but found ways to properly dispose of them. I don’t have medicines for me, but I do have dog medicines that get thrown out periodically. Next time, I will call and see if the vet will take them back. Thank you for that.

I did this the day that Havi wrote her post .. and had a hard time finding things until I moved to the bookshelves. But it occurs to me that, like you, I do save boxes. They come in handy every December – I use maybe 3-4 of them then – but maybe I could *just* save 3-4. 😉

😉 Elizabeth, yes, coming up with innovative ways to dispose of things was harder than finding the things to dispose!

I definitely have a number of books that don’t feel like they belong in my home anymore. On one hand, I felt a bit like an inquisitor (witch-burning, book-burning) for recycling that one unfortunate yoga book.

On the other hand – I don’t want to perpetuate the books that I strongly disagree with. And if it’s a mild rather than a strong disagreement, would it be OK to resell it, or better to donate to a library? Still pondering that one.